Double Stuffed

By Erin in Miscellaneous on Dec 2, 2005 7:26PM

So beginning late 2008, Lufthansa is flying Airbus' new ginormous A380 double-decker plane from Chicago to Frankfurt out of O'Hare. The thing carries 850 passengers, has a 10,000-foot-long runway requirement and, should you want to find a good use for all of that extra cash you've got lying around, comes with a price tag of $290 million.

Apparently, though, you can negotiate a discount when you order. Which is nice because if there is anything we at Chicagoist hate more than anything, it's paying full-price.

It looks like only the taxiways are stopping Lufthansa from bringing the massive plane to O'Hare. For a plane of its size, Federal Aviation Administration regulations dictate that the taxiways need to be 100 feet wide; O'Hare's are 75. But, airport officials say that making room for the Airbus is part of the runway expansion plan and the planned once-daily flights will take off with no problems.

Chicagoist has no currently plans to travel to Frankfurt but we might just to get on this thing. And is it just us, or does thing look a flying cruise ship, sans pools and Gopher?